Team

Jan Matern is the Co-Founder and CEO of Emerge Venture Lab, which creates sector-specific acceleration programmes for startups that address social and environmental problems at a systems level.

Its flagship programme, Emerge Education, helps grow outstanding edtech startups through a network of leading investors, industry-specific mentors and educational institutions. It's run in partnership with Eton College and Oxford University's Said Business School.

As CEO, Jan is responsible for strategy, investor relations, startup selection, and people. Jan co-founded the Lab during his final year at Oxford University, where he graduated with a 1st class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He was previously an Associate at Chelwood Capital, a social investment consultancy, where he worked with scalable social ventures seeking to access capital markets.

Ed Fidoe is an education reformer and advisor, committed to transforming the UK education system through hands-on reform as well as advising the UK's leading educational institutions.

He specialises in exploring the future of education in several areas, including the role of data and technology, provision of content, and innovative forms of teaching. Prior to KP FOX he was a senior manager at McKinsey.

Having co-founded School 21 in 2012, Ed continues to support its development as Chief Executive of the 21 Trust, and also sits on the Cambridge University Press strategic advisory board.

James O Shaughnessy is the Managing Director of Floreat Education. A passionate advocate of the potential of character education, he created Floreat to bring the evidence and practice of character virtue development into UK state primary schools.

James is also the Chief Policy Advisor at Portland Communications, an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Values, a Visiting Fellow at Policy Exchange, an Advisor to Character Lab, and a governor at Lena Gardens primary school in Hammersmith.

Previously, James was Director of Policy and Research for Prime Minister David Cameron between 2007 and 2011, latterly in No.10 Downing Street. Prior to that he was deputy director at the leading think tank Policy Exchange, where he published and edited several reports on school reform.

Vanessa Miner is a strategic development and marketing professional with considerable experience in education, media and communications industries.

Vanessa’s career began at the BBC, where she worked in independent television production in London. She joined BT in 1992, working in corporate communications & marketing, before leaving to form part of the core team who developed Vizzavi.

In 2005 Vanessa took up the role of marketing director for Edge Foundation, a charity that championed vocational learning and was at the forefront of new movements in education, including the development of University Technology Colleges and Studio Schools.

Since 2008, Vanessa has consulted for The Department for Education and now works with educational investors, policy developers and academy groups in the area of partnership marketing and business development.

Mar 17, 2016

Contact us

Block D, New City College – Hackney,Falkirk Street, London N1 6HQ (map)